Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection by Violet Duke Page A

over.
    Elizabeth looked between Tara, who was staring at her with a kind of mild horror melded with bewilderment, and Maria-Louisa’s grinning, girlish face and waving arms.
    No contest.
    “L-Later,” she said to Tara as she walked toward the table of women, half-full martini in hand, ready to do a little partying with an as-of-yet unknown Wilmington Bay crowd.
    She took a very, very deep breath.
    Hey, she could be spontaneous and fun if she wanted to be. She could act like a popular girl. Goodness knows she’d watched women like them long enough to be able to approximate how they behaved. All it would take was another dr—
    “We’re drinking strawberry margaritas, Elizabeth. Can I pour you one?”
    “A-Absolutely,” she said, shining her best smile at Maria-Louisa and then greeting the woman’s merry band of friends. “I was just thinking of trying something else.”
    “Ooh, these are the best,” one of the other ladies said. “Jimmy, over there at the bar,” she pointed, “makes ours extra sweet and—”
    “Extra potent,” another woman finished.
    All the ladies at the table giggled and raised their glasses in agreement.
    “Sounds exactly l-like what I’m looking for,” Elizabeth declared, polishing off the martini and gratefully reaching for the margarita. She took a good look at Jimmy the bartender. He was pretty cute. And their waiter—his nametag said “Ivan”—was even cuter.
    Mmm. This night had a lot of potential. She sipped her new drink, smiled again at everyone and winked at Ivan.
     
    * * * * *
     
    ROB AND TONY SAT in front of the TV, beers in hand, discussing in intimate detail the parts of the visiting-team pitcher’s anatomy that they’d like to eviscerate, since he caused the Brewers to lose again. Rob grinned through the goriness. He missed spending nights like this with his kid brother.
    “I keep envisioning a baseball version of Braveheart ,” Tony said, tossing his empty beer can into the trash. “But I guess TV can’t show everything.”
    “Guess not.” Rob checked his watch. “Hey, it’s after nine. How long is your wife going to be out?”
    Tony shrugged. “Late. She gets it into her head that she needs an outing with the girls once a month and, you know, with five kids at home, I don’t blame her.”
    “You don’t mind doing everything by yourself for an evening, though? Putting all the kids to bed and all?” he asked.
    Tony laughed. “Look, Maria-Louisa does it all by herself during the day. Every day. I’d give her the whole night off three times a week if she asked for it. Once a month is nothing.”
    Rob thought of the five children sound asleep upstairs. Sammie, when Rob poked his head in on him an hour ago, was actually snoring. And one of the triplets—Michael—was talking to a PBS dragon in his sleep. It was kind of cute, he had to admit. In a Family Channel sort of way.
    He got up to stretch his legs. “Hey, you feel like cookies or ice cream or something? I can run out and pick up a half-gallon or two for us.”
    “I’d love some, but aren’t you sick of that sweet stuff after all the hours you spend scooping it up every day?” Tony stared at him with one of his deep, penetrating gazes. This question wasn’t intended to be literal.
    “Yes and no, Tony,” he admitted. “You know how I like to talk to people, so that part of it has been fun. The shop itself is running fine, and Elizabeth is so organized that we have on hand anything we need days before we actually need it.”
    “Ah, yes. Elizabeth.”
    He groaned. “Oh, c’mon. Don’t start on me. I can’t tell Mama the truth yet. That’s the part that hasn’t been going so well. I mean, Elizabeth’s been awfully kind about helping me fake this relationship, but soon Mama’s going to have to know that it could never happen for real.”
    “Because?” Tony prompted.
    Man, let me count the ways . “Because we’re not of the same type. She’s quiet and reserved and straight-laced.